Rough Crafts customizes the Royal Enfield Continental GT

We haven’t ridden the brand new Royal Enfield Continental GT yet, but early reviews are positive. The 648 cc parallel twin has the vintage look dialed in, and is reportedly a smooth, easy-going ride.

It’s expected to retail for between $5,999 and $6,749 (depending on color) when it hits dealers next year. Which also makes it excellent value—especially if you’re looking for a brand new bike to customize.

Enfield themselves are pushing the custom angle hard with the Continental GT, and its more neutrally styled stable mate, the Interceptor. They’ve already handed bikes over to top customizers to work their magic—including our good friend Winston Yeh, at Rough Crafts in Taiwan.

Winston came away impressed when he first test rode the Continental GT: “It was way beyond my expectations. The stock bike is cool, light and runs good. The power is not extreme, but for the bike’s size and city riding it’s perfect.”

“It could potentially be the new SR400 or W650 as an affordable, young guy’s go-to bike for street customizing.”

Rough Crafts’ custom Continental GT is called ‘Midas Royale.’ And not surprisingly, the tweaks are a few steps beyond the average owner-customized Enfield. Winston’s taken the Continental GT from café racer to endurance racer, and imbued it with his signature style.

The most obvious change is the all-new bodywork. Royal Enfield asked Winston nicely to retain the fuel tank’s basic shape, as a nod to the original. So he designed a new unit with the same lines, but stretched to suit the style he had in mind.

There’s some visual trickery going on too; the new tank is actually a cover that sits over the stock unit, and extends all the way down to the ‘wings’ on the side.

It attaches via the stock mounting points at the back, and is held in place by velcro on top. It’s a tight fit too, with a cutout ‘inside’ that fits the OEM tank perfectly.

To build it, Winston designed the new form, then had a mold 3D printed. Local craftsman Simon Fiber Craft then shaped the final part with layers of fiberglass and carbon fiber. The exact same process was used to develop the Enfield’s new nose fairing and tail section.

Finishing bits include KOSO lights front and back, and an acrylic windscreen that was vacuum formed over another 3D printed mold.

Regular collaborator 2 Abnormal Sides whipped up a pair of Rough Crafts tank badges, and Kingsman Seat upholstered the seat, with a stunning tobacco-to-black fade on the leather.

With the elongated bodywork, there was no reason to shorten the Enfield’s frame. But it’s had some edits lower down, with a new mount for the Öhlins TTX GP TR469 monoshock and a custom swing arm from HPM Racing.

Winston’s also added new subframe supports and new rearset mounting points.

The front suspension’s been upgraded to a set of blacked-out Öhlins FGRT213 upside-down forks, held by new triples from CNC Racing. Other upgrades include 17” carbon fiber wheels from BST Racing, Pirelli Diablo Superbike slicks, and a full Beringer brake set.

In the cockpit you’ll find clip-ons, a brake guard and bar-end plugs from CNC Racing, Motogadget grips and Beringer levers. The foot controls are now from HPM Racing.

CH Moto helped out on assembly, and also installed a stunning set of Banai Racing headers, mated to 70s-style cones from SC Project. The airbox is gone too, replaced by waterproof filters from Sprint Filter, and the rear sprocket’s been swapped for a new one from Wukawa Industry.

All the electronics have been packed into a neat tray, tucked up under the seat, and the speedo’s been eliminated. “Royal Enfield made the wiring easy breezy,” says Winston. “No CAN bus, and no crazy computer. Just take out whatever you don’t want: it still starts and runs. Just like the old days!”

Long-standing collaborator Air Runner tackled Midas Royale’s paint job. It’s a sublime mix of gloss carbon fiber, black, pin striping and gold leaf work. The chroming and plating work was handled by another local expert called Anodizing.

If not for those unmistakable Royal Enfield engine cases, you’d be hard-pressed to identify this machine as a Continental GT.